Talk:Harem (genre)
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So what was the first anime/manga title to fit the genre that wasn't strictly a Magical Girlfriend series?
-Paul Soth
Depends on who you ask, since different people have different definitions of "harem anime." Kimagure Orange Road might be a contender. (It's got psychic powers, but they belong to the male main character and his relatives, not to any of the romantic interests.) The "harem" is pretty small though... a love triangle in the anime, and only one additional potential interest in the manga. If you're looking for entirely "normal," the oldest example I can think of would be one of the Dokyusei/Kakyusei/Graduation anime adapted from romance games. But those are pretty recent, and I'd wager there's something earlier. Shimeru
I have never heard of the term "harem anime". It sounds a little misleading because I think a manga like "Love Hina" is a bit too cute and comedy oriented to associate it with the word "harem". Maybye another phrase could subsitute it?
- It's a fairly well-known term, and being cute or comedy-oriented isn't excluded from the definition. -- Antaeus Feldspar 23:34, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)
"Ai Yori Aoshi" combines magical girlfriend with harem? Aoi doesn't have any magical powers. I thought magical powers were a defining characteristic of "Magical girlfriend"? - Nik42 05:55, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)
This is one of the best wikipedia articles I've ever read but I don't know why...
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[edit] Hand Maid May
Would someone mind adding a listing for this anime? While it's fairly modern, I personally feel it's rather defining for the genre, plus it showcases many of the basic character types.
[edit] School Rumble
I think this one fits the bill, specifically for Harima Kenji's evolving interests in / living arrangements with various different girls as the series progresses. If Ranma fits the bill, I think School Rumble should as well.
School Rumble does not qulify for a harem comedy because it features multiple male leads in fairly significant roles.--Secretwanderer 04:18, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
School Rumble is an odd duck. The focus of the series (specifically the manga) frequently shifts from one character to another. Although the first few volumes were primarily about the lopsided triangle between Harima, Tenma, and Karasuma, but in the more recent volumes the story is focusing more on Eri's crush on Harima and the the latest few Yakumo's reaction. There really is no true protagonist, and not all the girls are infatuated with one guy (or vice-versa). The series itself proclaims to be a "love comedy" but there are no harem aspects. --Wererat42
[edit] My-HiME/My-Otome
How do these two animes qualify as harem? The male "leads" in each series were only secondary characters, and they sure as hell didn't have a bunch of women swarming around them vying for their affection. And what little harem-like action they got was far from being important to the overall plot. Calling these two animes harem is really going overboard. You wouldn't call Love Hina a mystery anime just because it had a mystery plot in one of its episodes, would you?
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The "Mai" series should not be considered as Harem for the above explanation. In fact, the storyline can be unaffected after omitting the male characters. By definition, Harem requires a main central male character surrounded by females.
Instead, the series belong with Bishoujo. 75.32.32.165 18:10, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Sakura Taisen
Does Sakura Taisen count as harem anime? Ougami has girls from Japan and then France... although he doesn't socialize with them much. --MaskedRiderGatack 09:44, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Ah My Goddess?
Should it be on the list? 80.47.102.221 03:48, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
- Not really, since it's Magical girlfriend rather then Harem. --Paul Soth 17:50, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
- Perhaps the general fanbase hasn't labeled it as such, but it does have a single lead male living with three (for a few episodes four) female characters, with a few secondary female characters as well. It is definately a Magical girlfriend story, but it also seems to fit the definition of Harem anime, at least as defined on this page. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.211.190.211 (talk) 10:08, 2 March 2007 (UTC).
[edit] Fate/Stay Night
How about this series? While it's not primarily a romance, Shiro does collect an impressive harem (Rin, Saber, Sakura, and Ilya at least), and three of them end up living with him. ~ CZeke 07:39, 12 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] About Chobits and Urusei Yatsura examples
I removed Chobits and Urusei Yatsura as examples of the harem genre. The reason I removed Chobits was that throughout the entire manga/anime series, Chi is the only character who displays definitive romantic interest in Hideki (and even that can be debated on her being only a machine...). Yuma appears to like Hideki at first, but she says that it was just a big-brother fulfillment of him later on, and she was really in love with another person all along. Same with Hideki's teacher, who runs off with Hideki's classmate early on. Once you've eliminated both of them, you're left with just Hideki and Chi, and a plot more resembling a magical girlfriend one than a harem (a bit like Oh My Goddess!). IMO, a series can only be classified as a harem anime if no less than two of its main characters show clear romantic interest in the lead.
The claim that Urusei Yatsura is a "definitive harem series" contradicts the statement on Urusei Yatsura's article that contrary to appearance, it is not a harem because most females are repulsed by Atari's perverted behavior. I'd say (from what I've seen so far of the series) that Urusei Yatsura falls more in the magical girlfriend category like Chobits because Lum is just about the only girl that will put up with Atari.
That all said, this article is probably the most comprehesive analysis of the harem comedy on the web. Where else would you see such thorough definitions of stock characters and numerous examples to boot? Kudos, Wikipedia! Breed Zona 01:32, 30 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Busou Renkin??
From what I've seen of both the manga and anime I would have to argue about the statement that this is a reverse harem. If anything I would classify it as a shonen action series in every sense of the term. Kazuki is depicted as the lead character, and the story focuses more on him 'powering up' in the same manner as Naruto or Kurosaki Ichigo. --Wererat42
[edit] Pita-Ten
Would Pita-Ten be considered a Harem? On various websites, it's been defined as a Harem, but it may also be a "magical girlfriend" anime. Just wondering.
--68.70.175.155 14:34, 7 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Ranma 1/2
Ranma has a harem, like whoa. However Akane has a lek as well. I think it could be added into the gender variant section at the bottom as an example of both. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 65.185.92.127 (talk) 20:19, 7 February 2007 (UTC).
[edit] Original research
As amusing as the character depictions are, I am afraid that unless references are provided it seems like original research.-- Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus | talk 22:12, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
- I went ahead and removed it. I'd like to have such a section/article someday though, as I'm pretty sure I could cite that.--SeizureDog 07:18, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
